Yusef al-Ayeri

Yusef al-Ayeri (1973-2003) was the first leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He planned a cyanide gas attack against the subway in New York City, but the plot was cancelled.

Biography
Yusef al-Ayeri was born in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and in 1991 he travelled to the al-Farouq training camp in Afghanistan to be trained by al-Qaeda. He became a trainer at the camp before joining Osama bin Laden as a bodyguard and accompanying him to Sudan. In 1993 he directly participated in the Battle of Mogadishu alongside Saif al-Adel, and from 1996-1998 he was imprisoned for the Khobar Towers bombing, actually a Hezbollah attack on the United States. In 2003 he was killed by Saudi security forces in a crackdown against terrorism in the country.